Is homosexuality genetic or an evil
force that plays mind games with people? I am well aware that this subject
is charged and controversial -- and it has become so even in Christian circles.
I have not sought support for my thoughts from the Word of God. Rather, the Word
of God has given me the thoughts I will present here today. I will bring up the
subject of homosexuality, but also the relationship to Christian homosexuals.

Is it a sign of the times and can you
be delivered from it? From the beginning God created humans as man and
woman. We begin in Genesis 1:27-28:

"So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God
blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish
the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."

Here, God's Word clearly states that you
were created to be Father and Mother - as man and woman - designed for
parenthood. The Lord states that very clearly here.

Scripture considers any kind of sexual
relationship outside of the bonds of marriage as loose living. The Scripture
characterizes it as fornication. The marriage institution is also clearly
defined in Genesis 2:24, where it says:

"Therefore shall a man leave his
father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one
flesh."

Only man and wife are referred to here. It
is not stated any other way; you can never imply or interpret it to mean that
you can have whatever [sexual] partner you wish to have.

That instinct, which God has embedded in
humanity to experience the deepest form of relationship, and in order to protect
marriage in true faithfulness, has become the Devil's strongest weapon against
God and against marriage. So he is using it against God. That which God has
created so that man shall experience togetherness and faithfulness and happiness
and everything it brings -- the Devil uses this against God and in God's face,
in order to twist and distort.

Of course, in the animal kingdom there are
males and females, and in the botanical world there are also male and female
plants; in neither the animal nor in plant life do [sexual] abnormalities occur.
Rather, every species stays with its own species. That is the way it is -- until
humans, in recent years, have stomped into this area with test tube
fertilization and through cloning. Up until that point it has been as God has
said that we should live.

Legalizing [domestic] partnerships between
men and men, between woman and woman, it will simply create disasters -- beyond
comparison! We are already seeing the results of this. We see it through the
spread of AIDS. Certainly, not all AIDS-infected individuals are homosexuals,
but it came into existence because of this in the past. For that matter,
innocent people can become infected with this terrible disease, without having
had anything to do with what lies behind it, as far as homosexuality is
concerned. Nevertheless it will create a big disaster, and the authorities and
the social services are already experiencing that you cannot control this. They
experience the difficulty of it. However, not only that: TV recently reported
about the increasing number of men and women infected with various venereal
diseases. It is increasingly spreading because they are not living as God has
intended them to live together with each other. And that is because humans are
slipping into clearly unbiblical and clearly inhuman relations. It is not a
private matter or a right to live in a sexual manner other than what the Bible
dictates. Hebrews 13:4:

"Marriage is honourable in all, and
the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge."

Regardless of how society views this, God
will judge both society and those who commit sexual immorality. Remember that.
Both society or the city, or the place, God will judge because of those who
commit sexual immorality.

Let's go back in history to Genesis
19:1-5. Verse 4:

"But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the
house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they
called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are
the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may
know them." [v. 4-5]

Here we read for the first time about
homosexual men. All the men of Sodom openly spoke [of] and openly displayed
their deviant sexual disposition. Both young and old, we read here -- everyone.
Then they put it this way: "So that we may know them". This means sexual
relations -- the same expression the Bible uses when a man goes in to a woman
[for intercourse]. It is exactly the same expression here that talks about these
men, who lusted after each other. Isaiah 3:9 states it this way: "The shew of
their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as
Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto
themselves." [Hiding your sin] was not done in Sodom. Openly they show up in
front of the house and call for Lot. The righteous one, they do not spare him in
any way, but say: "Bring out these men that we may know [have sex with] them. We
are simply lusting for them." So there they stand in plain sight. They do not
hide their sin. Completely openly and unabashedly they talk about their sexual
needs, and that tells you something about the conditions in Sodom.

God tells Abraham in Genesis 18:20: "And
the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their
sin is very grievous." Thus says the Lord. So grievous! The outcry from Sodom
and Gomorrah it is great and the sin is grievous. That is how God views the
aberrant sexual relationship, It is very grievous, says God. It is very
grievous, this, when people let themselves get involved in this.

Openly, unabashedly, that is how we
perceive men kissing each other, and women kissing each other. However, it is
also done in front of TV-cameras -- that they can do. They do it also in front
of movie cameras, but not only that, it is done openly in the street and at our
public places. That is the way it is done in our country today. What does God
say? He says it is very grievous. It is very grievous when it comes to our
country, just as it was for Sodom and those cities.

Paul says in Philippians 3:19 that they
brag about their sexual exploits. Is that not what we perceive people doing
today? People nowadays want to protest against God's order of creation. That God
has created men and women to further the human race is disliked both by the
Swedish law of the land, as well as by the homosexual movements. They dislike
the order of creation. You protest against God and against the order of
creation. Moreover, they allow [domestic] partnerships, men with men, and women
with women. How can it... how can it be this way? Well, it is as Paul says in
the letter to the Romans, which I will come back to in a moment. Romans 1:22:
"...they became fools!" To think that those who govern our country are fools
sitting in the house of parliament. To think that there they all are, the
government, who have agreed to this insanity and let loose this flood of sin in
our country. It is foolishness, says the Word of God. Consequently, I believe
the Lord says about this sin in Sweden that it is very, very grievous. And why
then has this manner of living come about? Well, then we of course turn to the
first chapter of the Letter to the Romans and include the verses there, where
Paul thoroughly deals with the subject. There was reason for it, since the Roman
Empire was permeated by these thoughts of homosexuality. It was something that
was flourishing so terribly, and he had to deal with it so that it did not
become a pattern in God's congregation as well.

Why has this manner of living come
about? Romans 1 :21-28:

"Because that, when they knew God,
they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their
imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to
be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God
into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted
beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness
through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between
themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served
the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this
cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change
the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men,
leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another;
men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that
recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to
retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do
those things which are not convenient."

They exchanged the highest... they
exchanged the Lord for the lowest there is. That is what they exchanged, Paul
states here. It is only a fool who acts that way, he says. Since they do it in
this way, they reject God who is the blessing, God who is the Sovereign One, God
who is the Master of all things. They reject Him. The Word of God is law and the
standard for living, but it is of no use to accept God's Word in principle and
say: "Yes, this is God's Word," if in practice you disobey His commands. What
difference does it make if I acknowledge the Word of God, but in practice I
break it by acting completely contrary, and living completely contrary, to what
the Word says. Since God's Word demands obedience from us, we must obey it if we
are to receive God's blessing and fulfillment in our lives, and be called
children of God. Here in the 28th verse: "And even as they did not like to
retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do
those things which are not convenient." Man is clearly equipped with a free will
and can either resist or submit to the inclinations of the old nature. We truly
have the power to do that. Moreover, the moral nature of man shows itself
through the expression of good and evil, which is written in our hearts: the
voice of conscience that we have within us. In this way, our thoughts judge us,
either defending or accusing us. If we say with our mouth: "There is nothing
wrong with what I am doing," but the heart says something else. It does not
matter if you defend a sin you are living in, or defend someone else's sin. Your
heart says something different, because your heart judges your thoughts. You can
with your mouth babble about all sorts of things, but the heart will convict us.
That is what the Bible passage is saying here. And in Romans 2:14- 15:

"For when the Gentiles, which have
not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not
the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in
their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the
mean while accusing or else excusing one another."

There is a conscience. When we turn our
back on God and refuse to receive knowledge, then God removes His Spirit from
the conscience -- the conscience becomes insensitive and wavers. Then there are
no longer any inhibitions for a human being. God no longer guides these people,
because they proceed all the more in ungodliness. Romans 1 :24:

"Wherefore God also gave them up to
uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own
bodies between themselves."

Homosexuality begins with the desire of
the heart. This is the result--sins of the mind. The fantasies you entertain, or
the sexual dreams that you harbor. And here [you have] the porn industry, TV,
movie and print business. They have awakened these powerful desires by openly
promoting [this homosexual lifestyle] to all Swedish people. It is done
unabashedly, without consideration for people who cannot bear to see such
things. As a result, people may commit acts of violence. It is known that this
is dangerous. Nevertheless, it is not prevented. It is openly shown.
Demonstrations that wind their way through the streets of Stockholm - the
homosexuals have their posters held up and paraded about - I asked the Oland
Times to write an article about this, and I made myself available. Not a single
one got back to me. I contacted the Barometer [newspaper] and said: "I am going
to preach on this subject. You're welcome [to attend]." Not a response, nothing.
I called the TV -station and said the same thing: "Do you want to come on Sunday
morning, because then I'm going to preach on this burning subject?" "Yes, we
probably have some time," they said. I called on Monday, but nobody responded.
They simply let this one pass. They do not want to deal with it.

Romans 1:26-27:

"For this cause God gave them up unto
vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that
which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of
the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that
which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error
which was meet."

The desires of the heart turned into
shameful lusts. "Burned" means to turn on. That is the way people do it. You
turn on a prompting in there [the mind] when you have your sexual fantasies or
dreams, or when you see these things in magazines or in movies. Then it simply
means that you ignite something inside yourself, through one's contempt of God.
Moreover, when the shameful lusts take shape in the personality, it becomes an
uncontrollable power, like a fire that cannot be extinguished. And God does not
extinguish that fire, says Paul. God does not extinguish a fire you have
[ignited] yourself, in your own life. God lets it burn. Then it says in Romans
1:27b "receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet."
Consequently, when people do not want to resist - but uncontrollably,
uninhibitedly devote themselves to this, [then] God lets it burn. Judgment day
is coming, and they will be judged for the fire that they have allowed to burn.
Here Paul emphasizes that both women and men were on the same level when they
practiced homosexuality. The one was no better than the other. That is the way
it was in the Roman Empire.

Leviticus 18:22-30:

"Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as
with womankind: it is abomination. Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to
defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie
down thereto: it is confusion." [v. 22-23]

From verse 27: "For all these
abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the
land is defiled;) That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as
it spued out the nations that were before you. For whosoever shall commit any
of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from
among their people. Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not
any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that
ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God."

The Bible clearly teaches about these
abnormalities. Sexual abnormalities are a deep cancerous tumor in the entire
society. The Lord knows that sexually twisted people will rape the animals. Not
even animals can avoid the fiery passion of man's sexual lust. Even this
[bestiality], some will pursue. For many years, I have heard stories like these
from people when I sat and listened as a volunteer telephone counselor. This
wasn't just one incident where people told of the animal [sexual] relations they
had had -- which had given them satisfaction. So it is abundantly clear that God
is not writing a book of fairy tales for people to think of these things. He
writes it with the thought in mind that people will act this way when they
abandon God. Because of these sins, the land will vomit out its inhabitants. The
political response to this in our country is then what Paul talks about: "We
know God's righteous decree that those who live that way deserve death. Still it
is in that very way they live, and worse yet, they think it is good when others
do it." [paraphrase of Romans 1:32.] This is how we experience the political
response in our country. They [government] give their consent and they think it
is good that they are engaged in this. "It doesn't matter."

However, our country is facing a disaster
of great proportions! Of that we can be sure. God said the land would vomit out
its inhabitants. They were not allowed to remain if they continued living like
the people who had previously inhabited the land. When the children of Israel
were about to possess the promised land, should they begin to have such
relations that were contrary to God's Word, then God says the land will once
again vomit out its inhabitants. I think it could happen in Sweden. I think it
could happen in our country, because we have adopted such laws. Our country has
not the least concern about what God has spoken. Our country is facing a
disaster. Who is to say that we cannot have an earthquake where hundreds of
thousands of people could die in an instant? Who is to say that we cannot have
any monsoon rains that drown thousands of people in our country? Who is to say
that other catastrophes cannot reach Scandinavia? We are so safe and secure. And
we sit here so sheltered and cozy, and "it cannot happen to us," but in southern
Europe - there it happens, and in other parts of the world and China - there it
happens. God can turn it around, so that the inhabitants of our land may
experience precisely these [events]. We may be vomited out of the land because
our nation has left God. This is devastating.

To think that approximately 300 of our
popularly elected officials have led us down a road to catastrophe. As they have
adopted these laws of [domestic] partnership and let people live as they wish.
And today they cannot fathom the consequences of the decisions they have made.
Only time will tell about this. We have gotten to learn words like "incest,
pedophile, and child molestation." Words that make us shudder, that belong to
the abnormalities. I want to turn to First Corinthians chapter six and include
something Paul brings up concerning the Corinthian congregation and their way of
life. He says in verse 9 [-11]: "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not
inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor
thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall
inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye
are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the
Spirit of our God."

Now I read from the original text, it goes
like this: "Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the
Kingdom of God. Do not deceive yourselves. Neither sexually immoral people nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor people of sensual pleasure, nor defilers of boys,
shall inherit God's kingdom." Defilers of boys -- already when the Bible was
written the Lord knew what was going to happen. We have experienced it here, and
we are horrified by it. In First Timothy 1:10 Paul talks about perverts.
"Perverse" is translated from the original text, which states: "one who lies
with boys."

All homosexuals are not pedophiles or
perverts. They nevertheless open the door to forbidden areas and allow sin to
take hold of the life of the mind. And the one who is a pedophile today does not
start out as such. They simply begin by changing their gender relationships.
That is how it began. To be "faithful" in a homosexual relationship is in no way
a better relationship than where you frequently change partners. It is equally
detestable in the eyes of God. From God's perspective it is to be rejected, and
from God's perspective it is as much sin if you frequently change partners as it
is to live in a [committed] homosexual relationship. It makes no difference
before God's Word.

Is homosexuality a genetic instinct in
the personality of the human being? What does Jesus say in Matthew 15:18
[-20]? A verse we sometimes read and quote:

"But those things which proceed out
of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of
the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts,
false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man."

Jesus is clearly pointing to the heart,
the intellect, and the invisible thought life. That is where Jesus sharply
focuses his thoughts on this occasion. Jesus means that the sins of sexual
immorality begin in the thought life. When I have been sitting, listening to
people in the night [on the crisis hot-line], everyone without exception has
begun dealing with homosexuality in their thoughts. Often it happened in their
teenage years, but it also happened when they lived in an unhappy marriage --
women did not experience what they needed from a man. Therefore they sought the
company of other women -- and men likewise. Consequently it was such that they
began their sins of sexual immorality in their thought life. And from there it
continued to spread. And without exception, they all said that the first time
they engaged in this behavior, there was a barrier within them. Everyone said
that. However, when they had done it only once, the barrier was broken. So we
see that man, even despite his sins of sexual immorality, has a protection
through this barrier. After a few encounters, it became easier every time. Now
we understand what Jesus is saying about the sins of the thought life.

Romans 1:26: both men and women exchanged
natural [sexual] relationships for unnatural ones. There simply must be a choice
that you make. They exchange. Then you exchange away something. It is a free
choice. There was no one coercing. Exchange means that you voluntarily part with
something and voluntarily receive something else. Voluntarily I part with the
cleanliness and receive the uncleanness. A conscious exchange, Paul says.
Consciously they exchanged, Paul says. Homosexuality is something sick. A
healthy and clean thought has been exchanged for a contaminated [or defiled]
one. A healthy heart has been exchanged for a sick one. A healthy body has been
devastated because of an exchange. Paul says in First Corinthians 6:18: "Flee
fornication." Sexual immorality dishonors the body. It should not be [merely]
discussed, not combated -- you should flee from it like Joseph. What did the
Lord say to Lot? Flee for your life. "Flee," the Lord consequently says.

Is homosexuality something one chooses?
Answer: YES. You choose it. You are not born into it. It is absolutely that way;
otherwise it would be a betrayal of mankind. You voluntarily enter into this.

Can you live in homosexuality and be a
Christian? Ephesians 5:3,5-6:

"But fornication, and all
uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh
saints."

[5- 7:] "For this ye know, that no
whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath
any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you
with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the
children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them."

Let no one deceive you. Do you think that
you can be a Christian and be a homosexual? Then you deceive yourself, you fool
yourself. What if others are saying that "it isn't so bad and God is full of
love"? He is full of love, but He is also holy. He has said that He hates
immorality, and therefore [the sexual immoral] can not be a Christian. Those who
live that way are not a child of God and cannot be one. We must say it so people
hear it. Do not fool yourselves, dear people. It is deceit of the highest level
if you think you can fool yourselves. For the Devil says: "You can be a
Christian, and you can be good as a Christian, and you can live like this
anyway." "You can be faithful in your partnership," says the enemy of souls.
However, the Word of God says something else. Delusions that lead to punishment
we read about in Romans 1:27.

Revelations 22:14-15: "Blessed are
they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life,
and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and
sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever
loveth and maketh a lie."

Can it be stated more clearly? If this is
what you engage in, and live like in such a world, then you are living a lie,
and you cannot enter the kingdom of God. You do not get in. You can be a
Christ-professing homosexual, live that way, but you do not get into Heaven on
that. I want to emphasize that God's Word teaches this. Can you be a Christian
homosexual man or woman? No, you cannot. Then you deceive yourself, says the
Word of the Lord. And these will then stand there in shame one day.

Is this lifestyle of sexual immorality a
sign of the times? Luke 17:28. Yes, in [the gospel of] Luke, Jesus brings this
up, among other places in chapter 17, speaking there of how it will be in the
days of Noah, and how it will be in the days of Lot. How they lived back then.
They ate and drank, bought and sold, planted and built. But one day, when Lot
left Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and finished them all off.
It will be the same on that day when the Son of Man is revealed. What was it
that led to these cities perishing, losing their dignity, disappearing from the
face of the Earth? It was because they lived in homosexuality. It will be the
same on that day when the Son of Man is revealed; consequently, this is a sign
of the times we are facing. As people lived in the time of Lot, so shall they
live before Jesus returns. This is something we cannot deny in any way. Jesus
says that the lifestyle of Sodom shall be active in the whole Earth before the
coming of Jesus. The one who represents this lifestyle today goes against God's
order of creation. From Matthew 18, I must include verse 6 where Jesus deals
with children, stating:

"But whoso shall offend one of these
little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were
hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."
[The Swedish version's quote of "offend" is
"seduce."]

"Seduce" is here translated from the word
skandala [scandal]. So now we all know what it is -- a scandal. It is a
scandal to seduce one of these little ones, and now I want to focus a little on
the situation of the children in the relationship of a [domestic] partnership.
[It is] a scandal to rob a child of its Mommy and its Daddy. It is a scandal,
Jesus says. It is a scandal to let innocent children be subjected to this
torture. You violate a child by moving it from parents, from Mommy and Daddy, to
either two men or two women. It can be said that two men can bring up children
just as well, or that two women can bring up children just as well. Yes, that I
believe, that they can bring up [children] that way, but it nevertheless goes
against nature, and it is a scandal when you do it that way, Jesus says. Where
somebody seduces one of these little ones, and they have to grow up in such an
environment.

Sodom, as a cautionary example, is
mentioned over 30 times in the Bible. These sins of sexual immorality are so
deeply rooted that not even the judgments of the tribulation are able to make
people abandon the sin of sexual immorality. Revelations 9:20 [-21]:

"And the rest of the men which were
not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that
they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and
stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither
repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their
fornication, nor of their thefts."

The judgments cannot convince people to
abandon their sins of sexual immorality. Is this not possession by evil
spiritual forces? It is so deeply rooted in man that when the judgments come and
go across our world, the sexually immoral will not change, but they will
continue to live as sexually immoral people. Consequently, it must be that they
are gripped by evil spiritual forces.

A good married life prevents sins of
sexual immorality. First Corinthians 7:2-5:

"Nevertheless, to avoid fornication,
let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let
the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife
unto the husband. The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband:
and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.
Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye
may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan
tempt you not for your incontinency."

A good married life, where the man gives
the woman what the woman needs, and where the woman gives the man what he needs,
that prevents the sins of sexual immorality, Paul says. "Prevent", Paul says,
otherwise Satan may tempt you. Then these thoughts may enter the life of our
mind, and in such a way we might experience and fall into temptation.

Can homosexuals be set free or do they
have to be tormented by this impulse in them? First Corinthians 6:9-11:

"... Be not deceived: neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of
themselves with mankind... shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were
some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in
the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."

The Word of God offers power to live a
pure life. This Bible passage talks about what they used to live like -- in
sexual immorality and adultery, but they were washed clean. Hallelujah! And Paul
says in Titus that we lived "enslaved by all kinds of passions" [Titus 3:3], but
we encountered the mercy of our God and Savior. Then He saved us, praise God --
from the sins of sexual immorality, from homosexuality. That, He saved us from.
With Sodom and Gomorrah in mind Jesus says [that] if they had heard the same
message as Capernaum they would have repented [Matthew 11 :23-24].

Jesus is saying that you have to repent.
Jesus' view of homosexuality is a call to repentance. They have washed their
robes and made them white, therefore they stand before the throne of God. There
is a purifier. Nobody has to be defeated by sexual immorality. Nobody has to
say: "I have such a losing battle in this area." Everybody can be set free and
delivered. You can receive it if you want it.

Can homosexuals be delivered from this
diabolical power? Yes, they can. Because if the Corinthians could be
cleansed from these abnormalities they lived in, then each and everyone can also
experience it [today]. I thank God that Paul, in the Letter to the Romans and
the Letter to the Corinthians, has written as clearly and plainly as he has,
regarding these sexual issues. If those people had not had those struggles, then
we would never have known about it. Rather, we would have thought that we
experienced this only in recent times, but it has existed through all of
history, and God wants to save every generation from these sins. We must not
say: "We have to accept this." We cannot bless [domestic] partnerships. We
cannot unite ourselves with that. We cannot lay hands on those people and say:
"We bless you." That we cannot do, then we draw the disapproval of God on our
lives -- that is why it is so important.

The Bible's answer to the question: "Is
homosexuality a genetic instinct?" It is not.

The Bible's answer to the question: "Is
it an evil force that plays games with people?" Yes, it is. And we must
understand that it is that way.

Amen.

[Congregational Song]

"The only thing I know is that grace is
sufficient,
that the blood of Christ my sin, my guilt now covers."

[Åke Green speaking]

We must never think that some people,
because of their sinful lives, would end up outside of grace. Paul says about
himself that he was the foremost of all sinners, but he encountered an abundance
of grace and mercy. He also states in First Corinthians 6:9-11, when he lists
sexual immorality with other sins, that you can be saved from all the listed
sins, including sexual immorality. What these people need, who live under the
slavery of sexual immorality, is an abundant grace. It exists. It is valid also
for them. Therefore we will encourage those who live in this manner to look at
the grace of Jesus Christ. We cannot condemn these people -- Jesus never did
that either. He showed everyone He met deep respect for the person they were,
for instance the adulterous woman, in John 8, or the woman at the well in Sychar,
according to John 4. Jesus never belittled anyone. He offered them grace. We
must never belittle anyone who lives in sin. The sin we cannot bear -- but the
human being [we must hold up]. Surely we still believe it is as Paul says in the
Letter to Titus [2: 11-12]. Listen:

"For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and
worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present
world."

It is by showing all people grace and
mercy that we can win them for Christ. We never win anyone by giving them the
cold shoulder.

If anyone wants to talk or receive
intercessory prayer, you are welcome to let us know. I do not think it is
appropriate today to invite people forward in this service, it can be
misconceived. Let us now cover each other in prayer...

*Translator’s notes: This is a translation into contemporary
American English of the Swedish sermon transcript. Corresponding Bible
quotations are taken from the NIV (New International Version). The accuracy of
the Bible quotes in Swedish are not verified against a Swedish Bible, but they
all compare well to the NIV. Implied or omitted words and translation comments
are in [brackets].

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swedish Bible of 1917 which Pastor Green used in his
sermon best matches up with the King James Bible. Therefore all scripture quoted
from the NIV by the translation team was changed to the KJV in order to better
reflect what Pastor Green was reading with his congregation that Sunday morning
in July, 2003.